1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a shoulder sling for carrying equipment, and more specifically, this invention relates to a camera sling with means to reduce the swinging of a camera during periods of activity.
2. Background of the Invention
Many devices exist for attaching a camera to a user, with slings and harnesses being the most popular currently at the time of this application. State of the art camera slings and harnesses feature camera sliders. These sliders attach slidably to the harness or sling at one end and to a camera at the other. This configuration allows the camera to hang securely and hands-free from a harness or sling while not in use and enables a user to grab the hanging camera and slide it up to a shooting position with no lag time.
The invention of these camera harnesses and slings with camera sliders improved on the convenience of previous carrying devices by providing hands-free carrying of cameras without requiring a user to detach a camera from the carrying device before shooting. With the freedom of movement of the camera sliders offered by these state of the art slings and harnesses also came a disadvantage. As the camera sliders allow easy movement along the length of a camera sling and harness, the cameras tend to swing and bounce during periods of high activity of a user, representing danger to the attached cameras and accessories. This is especially true for photographers who are walking or hiking uneven terrain in pursuit of a subject or otherwise following the movements of an active subject.
Thus, a need exists in the art for a system for reversibly anchoring cameras attached to a camera sling or harness to reduce camera movement while not in use. Ideally, the apparatus would reduce the movement of a hanging camera while not in use but allow for quick release to a shooting position.